The Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission” or “SEC”) is publishing for comment proposed amendments to the Commission's regulations under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) to allow the Commission to collect fees that reflect its actual costs, add an appeals time frame that will create a more practical and systematic administrative process and clarify other issues in the regulations. The proposed amendments provide a formula for fees charged to FOIA requesters; incorporate a time frame in which a FOIA requester must file an appeal in the event a request or a portion thereof is denied; allow for submission of FOIA appeals by email or facsimile; and allow the Office of FOIA Services to issue responses to FOIA requests indicating that no records were located.

On February 25, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission re-opened the comment period on two releases related to asset-backed securities. The Commission re-opened the comment period to permit interested persons to comment on an approach for the dissemination of potentially sensitive asset-level data. The comment period is scheduled to end on March 28, 2014. In light of public interest in providing comment on the approach, the Commission is extending the comment period until April 28, 2014 to permit interested persons additional time to analyze and comment on the approach.